A Very Happy Anniversary

 

The first FOUR YEARS of Happily Ever After!

Over the past four years Pete and I have:

• Lived in three apartments
• Owned four cars
• Totaled one car
• Visited Ireland, Northern Ireland, England and Scotland
• Developed a taste for Indian food
• Learned to replicate most of the menu at Red Lobster
• Become Food Network junkies
• Vacationed in California, Las Vegas, New York, Boston, and taken several trips to Bear Lake
• I graduated from college
• Had a baby
• Pete won the BYU L'Oreal Brandstorm competition, leading to his offer to intern for L'Oreal
• I worked as a writer for an online marketing company for two years
• Pete still manages the deli
• We're moving to NYC

Who knows what's Next . . .?

Lists

Four years ago this coming Monday Pete and I were married in the Salt Lake Temple.



As I've been thinking lately about my marriage, my family and our lives together I can't help but realized how undeniably blessed I am, and have always been over the years. My mother has made the comment to me more than once that I lead a 'charmed life.' I don't know that I'd go so far as to say that, we've definitely seen some rough patches, but I cannot deny that the overall tone of my life is a rosy one. It seems as if I've somehow been allowed to custom order the people in my life to my own specifications, which brings me to Lists.

I am not a big believer in making Lists--its a List with a capital L because I'm talking about the kind of Lists that stipulate exactly how a future husband must be; in short, the kinds of Lists they tell you to write in Young Womens. I don't like these kinds of Lists because I think they set up unrealistic expectations of other human beings, and ultimately serve as an obstacle to finding and loving a wonderful though flawed companion.

However, despite my aversion to these Lists, I was talked into writing a List shortly before I came home from my mission by my good friend and then companion Lindsey Pinon (now Briggs). I'm actually grateful to her for encouraging me to write this List because as a missionary, it was probably the time in my life when I was most aware of what is truly, divinely important to me, as well as a time when I was constantly surrounded by examples of what an exceptional husband could and should be. I was blessed with a remarkable mission president as well as the intimate acquaintance of many senior missionary couples and church leaders. For the first time in my life, I believe, I had a clear vision of what characteristics I really wanted in a husband.

So I wrote a List. It wasn't a very long one; I believe it only contained a half dozen items, and not one mention of a height requirement, a mandate for dimples, or a wish for outstanding musical or athletic ability. I tucked this list into my journal and came home.

It wasn't long after Pete and I started dating that I realized he was the embodiment of my List, plus some very appreciated extras (he has a dimple!). There were only 45 days between our first date and our official engagement (we had been unofficially engaged for two weeks at that point).

And he has made me happy every day since. I couldn't have done better if I had custom ordered him myself.

Our Last Family "Who Ha" Before Manhattan

At least that's what Pete kept calling it on Saturday. I'm not sure I have a very clear idea of exactly what a "who ha" is, but I suppose it was a fun one at any rate.

We found out last Thursday that we are moving after all. I don't mean to Manhattan. Well, yes, we are moving to Manhattan for the summer, but we were planning on coming back to our apartment afterward for Pete's last semesters of school. But not any more. Our landlords called us on Thursday to let us know they have decided to put the house on the market. So with two weeks 'til we board the plane New York bound, we have to move. Did I mention how much I adore moving? It isn't very much. However, we have been in the same apartment for nearly three years (how did that happen?) and I dare say it's time to move on.

With all these reflections in mind, Pete and I decided to spend last Saturday on a family outing (the above mentioned "Who Ha"). We packed a picnic and went on a hike to Stuart Falls--not a huge hike, its only two miles in and two miles out; my kind of hike. Pete had Amelia in the hiking backpack (thanks Nelsons!).



She got a bit cranky toward the end; it was past nap time, but she loved, Loved, LOVED the waterfall.





On Sunday we took a walk at the park despite the disappointingly chilly weather. In case any of you have forgotten how unbelievably cute my child is, here are some of the pictures:









And finally, the biggest news of all; Amelia has graduated. At her 15 month doctor's appointment on Friday she weighed in at barely over 20 lbs. Hooray, we got to turn the car seat around!

Discussion on Priorities

I do feel it is only appropriate to give you fair warning that this post is going to be a bit of a rant. I don't typically like to post records of my rantings and ravings because, honestly, why would anyone want to read them? I don't. So if you feel disinclined to read about an incident that ticked me off this morning, please feel free to take this opportunity to find more agreeable entertainment.

So. This morning I was at the park near my house taking my little dollface and BOB out for a run--hooray for me! It was somewhere in the neighborhood of 10:00 in the morning and there were very few people at the park. However as I was running on the sidewalk adjacent to the empty parking lot there was an older, rather portly gentleman walking ahead of me with what appeared to be a large dust bunny on a leash. He was walking quite slowly, due either to his own considerable bulk or to the limitations of owning a dog with two inch legs, the reason, I suppose, is immaterial.

As I wished to be courteous, I maneuvered BOB off the sidewalk and into the parking lot so as to be able to pass the gentleman without inflicting serious injury on his dog. I ran past the man, but as I tried to remount the sidewalk with the stroller, I took it at an unfortunate angle for the speed I was running and nearly crashed. I had to scramble to save my child from spilling onto the pavement and sustaining grievous injury, which I was only just able to do.

As I was thus occupied the gentleman was directly behind me, and exclaimed, in what I considered to be an unnecessarily elevated tone, "Hey! Watch it lady, you scared my dog!!"

Really?! His dog? I was not a little upset. I am ashamed to say I turned around and gave him a particularly deadly glare, but, thankfully, I did not share with him any of the unflattering comments about his person, his manners, or his dog, that were at that time forming in my mind. I simply ran faster to put as much distance between him and myself as possible, and to let him think about his appalling behavior.

I was able to cool off later, as I considered the fact that as an older gentleman, the dog was likely the most meaningful relationship he currently cherished in his life, and that as such, it was natural for him to place a great deal of importance on it's emotional state. More so than the physical well being of a human child. MY beautiful child.

In hindsight though, perhaps I should be grateful to the prioritarily challenged gent; because I was so upset by his extreme lack of decorum, I ran an extra half mile this morning, and made excellent time too!

Pictures of my Family

This weekend I was looking for a picture of my family from 2010 for a project I'm helping to put together, and it struck me; I don't have one. SO I contacted my mother-in-law and asked her to email me any family photos that she might have that were taken this year.

surprise, surprise, I actually liked a couple of them. Even if the babe isn't smiling.




Much better than any that I tried to take myself with a timer at any rate.

Subtle Hints for Mother's Day

For Mother's Day I got these:



Do you think my family is trying to tell me something?

Just kidding, they are exactly what I wanted. I plan on being the stylin'-est mom jogging through Central Park this summer.

Word to my Mothas.

Barbecue at Grandma Tidwell's

Pete and I own a pretty big, mean BBQ grill. We inherited it about a year ago when Pete was helping some neighbors move and they decided not to lug it wherever it was they were moving across the country.

Awesome. That's what you get for being the ONLY person in the Elders Quorum who shows up to help someone move. It currently resides in Pete's parent's backyard, as we don't really have room to store a grill of this caliber. But we went over last weekend (before the weather turned abysmal) to enjoy the sunshine and dust off the old BBQ. The light was lovely and I really love some of the photos I got of the dollface while Pete was grilling pineapple.











Once the sunshine went back into hibernation last week we decided to hit up the dinosaur museum on BYU campus. Amelia wanted to learn all about the T-Rex.






And finally, because he was a touch bored one afternoon, Pete made these:



Napoleons. They were unspeakably divine. And this is my life for now.